Quail Pen Complete

We finished the quail pen. The indoor part is about 10x10, while the outdoor area is around 8x8. It's fully enclosed with chicken wire, and we put a little "natural habitat" area for them to hide in. So far they've been too scared to come outside, but we're supposed to have some nice weather the next few days and I'm hoping they'll start to venture outside more.

The Quest for Quail

Handy Husband has a new hobby! In our desire to become more self sufficient and grow a large part of our food supply, we decided to add quail to the menagerie.

We found these little cuties on Craigslist. They are 3 week old Jumbo Coturnix quail. We're not sure how many are males/females yet, but they are all healthy and doing well. 

After moving Griffin in with the other goats, we started remodeling his temporary space to use for the quail. It will have a nice, fully enclosed outside pen attached to a room in our shop building. 

The outside portion of their pen isn't finished just yet, but the inside part, which is about 10x10 is nice and cozy. 

 

Above, the chickens seem to think the quail's new outdoor pen-in-progress is a fun place to hang out. Are they trying to tell me something?

Rabbits in Winter

This morning, the temperature outside was a crisp 14 degrees, but inside the greenhouse, where the rabbits are being kept, it was 27 degrees. Not too bad, really. I gave the buns some more hay, as I do every couple of days, and they love burrowing through it and finding tasty bits to nibble on.

Kids at Play

We had a beautiful day yesterday and the human kids hung out with Griffin for awhile. He's so sweet and follows them around. 

The Bunnies are Home!

We picked up our new rabbits today. They're 10 week old New Zealand cross. There are 5 males and 4 females. Now the tough part will be deciding which ones we'll keep for breeding, and which ones will end up in the freezer. 

Little Climbers

The two little guys love to spend a large part of their day looking out our big bedroom window. They watch for passing trucks and tractors, and any of our farm critters wandering by. 

The View

Handy Husband snapped this beautiful picture while on the greenhouse roof the other day.

PS. That IS our trampoline lying next to the horse barn. We had some of the strongest winds I've ever heard out here one night, and thankfully, the trampoline was the only thing damaged... well, that, and a bit of the horse barn roof, but that's on schedule to be re-roofed soon.

Meet Griffin!

We picked up our new Pygmy buckling, Griffin, today. He's 14 weeks old and very sweet. I'm hoping he'll grow a bit more, as I'd like him to be able to breed our does in the future. I've read that the Pygmy/Nubian cross creates a nice dual purpose animal. 

New Animal Additions to the Farm

In an effort to revamp our farm's food production, we are acquiring several new rabbits and a Pygmy goat buckling. We'll pick up the young rabbits Saturday, and getting the buckling later today. 

We have the buckling's temporary home ready, where he'll stay for a while until we can slowly integrate him into the herd. 

The rabbits will be housed in the greenhouse over the winter, and I've been working on coming up with a good layout for their large pens. It's not finished yet, but I still have a couple of days before they get here. 

Greenhouse Roof Finished

We have had some nice, mild weather lately, so Handy Husband took the opportunity to finish the back portion of the greenhouse roof.